Summer relationship Dabbles
by Feathermoon18
Summary: Various short headcanon Archipelago dabbles.
1. Uncle Hassen comes to visit

Some Archipelago dabbles I wrote in my journal summer 2014. The webcomic ARCHIPELAGO DOES NOT BELONG TO ME.

Duct tape fixes everything, Alice mused as she studied her handiwork.

The pipes were finally quiet. Now her favorite redheaded shark man could get some sleep. Alice dusted off her hands and crawling out from under the furnace. She stretched and un-shrunk. A freckled redheaded boy of about six years of age was sitting on a nearby box. "Did you fix it, Mom?" he asked as she put the toolbox away.

"Yep, it's fixed now, Luke. Let's go in and tell your Dad." Alice said. Luke grinned and Alice noticed that his missing tooth was already coming back in. She was going to miss that gap-toothed grin of his.

The house was a small little thing out on the corner of town. The island was a small fishing community that had been welcoming to them. Sometimes Alice's brothers would come by to visit. Right now Uncle Hassen had dropped by for a time and was chatting with Riley on the porch. Riley held the youngest baby, had Lira clinging to his ankle, and the other twin, Reese, was sitting on Uncle Hassen's lap.

"Careful brother, she's a tricky one." Alice warned as she walked up the path. Her brother Hassen laughed. "This innocent little angel? She doesn't have a tricky bone in her body."

Riley chuckled. "You're warning was too late, Alice. She already has him wrapped around her finger."

Reese pulled her thumb out of her mouth and made content gibberish noises like she agreed.

The oldest son, Luke, chose that moment to run up with a excited shout that woke the babe in Riley's arms.

"Shhh, shhh, baby Lio." Riley cooed, rocking in the chair as he tried to sooth the wailing baby.

"I'm sorry," Luke whispered towards his crying sibling. Alice put her hand around his thin shoulders. He always worried when he scared the little ones. Such a kind older brother, though he forgets himself sometimes.

Riley leaned back, careful not to stop rocking the calmed baby. He closed his eyes and kept rocking. Alice shared a look with her brother. "Let's leave them to sleep," she mouthed.

Uncle Hassen stood up with Lira in his arms. Luke walked over to Riley's feet and pick up Reese and carry her. "Come on then," he whispered to the kids.

"Does Riley get any sleep?" Hassen asked as they walked down the path.

Alice gave a little shake of her head, bouncing Reese on her hip. "Lio is a fussy baby and Riley seems to be the only who can get him to stop crying. On top of that, the pipes made all sorts of noises the past few days. So none of us got much sleep, but Riley pulls double shifts when the baby feels colicy."

Hassen's voice was full of a gentle admiration. "You picked a good man, Alice."

Alice smiled. "The best."

Reese giggled as Luke made funny faces. Alice put the toddler down and the kids went running along the beach searching under rocks for bugs. Excited screeching announced when they found some.

"How are the others?" Alice asked.

"They're doing good. Everyone says hello and send their love. Tanner says he'll drop by in a couple of weeks to visit." Hassen replied.

They sat in the cool light of the evening for a while, just talking and catching up. Alice was pleased to hear that her brothers were doing well with their endeavors. Hassen shared news of a couple new faces had joined the family. They made plans to get the whole family together sometime.

A little while later Riley walked down the pathway with Lio resting in the crook of his arm. "Hey Alice, I think he's hungry. Awake but happy." Riley's disheveled appearance prompted a bit of sympathy from his brother-in-law. Hassen patted him on the back. "You should take a nap, man. I'll help Alice get the youngsters something to eat."

"Ah, thanks Leo," Riley managed to stifled a yawn and stumbled off back to the house. Hassen turned to Luke, who was trying to keep Lira from putting a bug down Reese's shirt. "Okay kids, lets go get something good to eat. What sounds good to you, Luke?"

"Poniska!" Luke shouted. Hassen smiled. His grandmother, Luke's great-grandmother, use to make them before she passed away. He'd tried some during the last visit since Alice had mentioned that Riley knew how to make it. "That does sound good. Let's go see if your dad made any."

Hassen scooped the twins up and juggled them in one arm so he could hold Luke's hand with his other.

Alice waved from the rocking chair and made a shushing motion with a finger to her lips as they walked by to get to the house. Hassen bounced the girls on his hip to keep them quiet and snuck into the kitchen. He put the girls down in their high chairs and secured them. Lira threw her bib but after a little effort he managed to get both of them ready to eat. Luke scrambled up onto a stool next to the table.

He sliced some soft fruit for the girls and helped Luke plate out a small serving of Poniska. The kids ate their meal in a mess that deep sea feeding frenzies couldn't compare. Luke did a good job cleaning up his own face and started wiping the tables clean. Hassen helped get the girls cleaned up.

Alice came in after feeding the baby and they herded the kids into the nursery. The girls whined about naps but fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows. Luke sat down in a corner to read, he said he didn't need a nap.

A disheveled Riley came in and handed a drink to Hassen before he leaned against his wife for support. Alice wrapped her arms around her husband and smiled to her brother.

"Thanks for helping out with the kids." She said to them both.

Riley smiled a sharp and toothy grin that had pure parental love behind it. "I love them."

Hassen chuckled, "Yeah, they're great."


	2. Olivia and Dragonfly p1

Her modest code mage job was hard, fascinating work, with linteresting company.

When he approched her all those years ago, she'd almost turned coward. A powerful spirit seeking her permission to begin the experiments. To say they had faced adversaries was an understatement. A frightening amount of paperwork almost didn't make it to the proper authorities.

Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose at the early signs of an oncoming headache. These long hours were wearing her down. Dragonfly had recruted her help to remodel some of the underground's programing. It was a huge task operating on the ancient innerworkings of the Archipelago. They'd been working at it for weeks now, yet she could see no end in sight.

A bright flickering glow warmed the room with the extra light. Dragonfly waved from across the cavern and gave thumbs up for success. The full grin on his continence was contagious and Olivia felt her lips curve too.

"It's just a summer thing," she tried to convince herself. The glowing warmth in her center every time she saw him said otherwise. She was in love with him. In amused resignation, she directed her thoughts back to shaping the lines of magic.


	3. The Postcard

"Come on Tuff, lets go swimming." Cassie said. She handed her fiancée the postcard depicting a couple surfing.  
Riley and Alice had sent them it several months back as a nudge. Among other things, the feisty newly-weds had spent their second honeymoon near the waves.

Since Tuff had finally got up the nerve to ask Cassie to marry him. Now their talks about the future were flavored with humble wedding and honeymoon plans. Then Tuff and Cassie announced their engagement. Tuff's twin had piled on the teasing, hugs, and recommended traveling locations.  
Tuff looked at card, and back at Cassie with an intrigued look. "Surfing?"  
They both smiled at each other, a private exchange between the two.  
Well, that settled it. Within a week they were racing on the warm tropical waters and catching waves.

Cassie had never looked so happy, free to enjoy the moment. Warm blue blush tinged her cheeks. Her tail rippled with delightful patterns with her emotions. Tuff splashed into the ocean with a relax grin.

They retired to the beach with books and tea.  
Eager to return to their family and friends, but for now they would enjoy this alone time together.


	4. Dragonfly hosts a party

Party isn't the word that Dragonfly wanted to use on the call to action letters he was sending out to the original heirs, but he used it anyways.

* * *

Dear comrades, I am hosting an "Evil Spirit Be Gone" party at R's house on the eve of tomorrow. As previously mentioned in our last scheme plotting dinner, this will be a spirit sealing/saving the world party.

Some activities planned include creating a magic gauntlet, running around making fierce faces, games of "Pin the tail feather on the Great Raven", and BUGZAPPER (a game where Olivia and I get zapped by magic in horribly terrible ways.)

NoodleGuy catering will provide dinner before the activities begin, bring your own drinks and a snack to share.

Please R.S.V.P. so I might set up the room arrangements with enough magic pedestals for everyone.

REMEMBER THIS IS A SURPRISE PARTY! DON'T TELL THE RAVEN!

-Dragonfly

P.S.

I'm pleased to announce that Olivia and I are going to be adopting a child together, and this party will double as a babyshower for anyone who wants to bring gifts.

* * *

Six original heirs showed up and they all had a grand time setting up before the VIP showed up. They figured they had enough time to throw a surprise party. Dragonfly had everyone pose for their pedestals and then before dinner everyone pitched in to help create the magic gauntlet that would be used to seal the great raven.

"Quickly! Everyone hide behind whatever you can!" Dragonfly said as they heard the sound of Raven approaching. Everyone ducked behind something, and he turned off the lights. In the dark they whispered warnings to be silent. Olivia was the loudest of them all. Dragonfly tried to be a mouse in terms of noise.

The door opened to admit the Raven. "SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped out shouting and confetti went everywhere as the rest of the activities started.

Turns out the Great Raven was a party animal with a taste for vengeance.


	5. Watermelon (feat Knull)

Watermelon seemed to be the only thing that Knull Snow could keep down. The cool crisp and sweet melon flesh was not a favorite of his to eat, but after so long of fighting, fleeing, and now illness, it seemed nice to have something that wasn't out to kill him for once.

Still, Knull wasn't a fan of the red fruit/melon. There were too many seeds, and often it was either overripe or underripe, both of which made the already unappealing taste even less so. However, as Knull was throwing up his meal of soup broth for the seventh time in two days, he decided that was enough to make him try it.

Knull vaguely remembered using watermelon to help the appetite was a remedy his mother use to swear to... before Captain Snow killed her.

Even though he could eat... Knull found he was tempted to remain in bed and go hungry. It just did not sound good, but he got up anyways and put himself to work slicing chunks of watermelon. The first melon was very red and crisp, signs that it was ripe but not overly so. This one was more pink.

Knull kept his eye on the plate as he counted the slices, a good way to convince himself to eat more than one bite. Seven small pieces on the plate. It looked like an awful lot. Knull carried the plate to the makeshift table and sat down. The first bite was as he expected. Mildly sweet and crispy, and it stayed down. Knull wrinkled his nose at the flavor and texture. Two more bites. Yuck. But his stomach wasn't revolting so he kept eating. Three, four, it wasn't long before all of the watermelon slices were eaten. He crawled back to bed and pulled the blankets over his head. The thick throbbing weighed on his brain like so many wet blankets, and kept rhythm with the thrumming of the stolen submarine engine.

It slowly lulled him into a sense of quiet that didn't exist. Sleep came tugging at the corner of his mind like waves on the sand of the beach. They took a new rhythm and he felt the throbbing subside just a touch when a dream started to take him. The submarine engines were replaced with the noise of a monstrous giant crashing through waves. His uncle Snow was to blame. Everything wrong was that man's fault.


	6. Growing up

Days were shorter now and Riley could feel it starting to take effect on him. He returned from fishing with his brothers-in-law and pulled his poncho off as he entered the dry shelter of the docks. The rain outside echoed in the cave as a mild roar.

Riley looked around for Alice. She'd usually met him at outside, but as he listened to the mild roar of the rain echoing through the cave, he was glad he asked her to wait in the shelter when the weather turned

Fish markets, man, what can a sharkman do? It wasn't easy to smell when there's so much fish around. A flash of red hair caught his eye and he grinned.

"Riley!" Alice was waving, shouted over the noise the crowd. A little red headed toddler was on each of her hips. Riley ran forwards swept her into his arms and (with their twin daughters howling with giggles) planted a big ol' kiss on her. She returned the favor in full, until their eldest child complained of being grossed out. Riley glanced down at his son and defiantly gave his wife another smooch before they released each other. Riley bent down and held out his arms for a hug. The boy's disgusted scowl softened as he rushed over to leap into his daddy's arms.

"Daddy, I found a dollar under my bed pillow!" Luke announced after reappearing from and Riley felt an excited flutter.

"Open your mouth, let me see your teeth," He said excitedly, and the boy mimicked his dad's full grin. One of the teeth was much sharper than the others.  
He looked up at Alice with a glow of pride and she beamed.

Later that night a lot of their friends all got together at Uru's bar. "Aw, yeah, my little boy is growing up," Riley bragged to all his friends over dinner as he showed them the baby tooth he had turned into a necklace.

Two weeks later young Luke came running into the kitchen with blood pouring from his mouth, "Daddy, daddy, I fiund a whalemouse and wrestled it!"  
Riley patched up his boy, understanding the ways of sharky babies. He cleaned his boy's split lip, listening to his boy's adventures and exclaimations, and after a scolding he sent Luke back outside to play. Yep, his little boy was growing up.


End file.
